


Nobody Ought to be Alone on Christmas

by Eicartgeorge



Series: 25 Days of Stydia Christmas [23]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:41:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eicartgeorge/pseuds/Eicartgeorge
Summary: Lydia just told her mother a huge lie, and now she's forced to make it true.Title comes from "All Alone on Christmas"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this fic is actually more of teaser to a larger, multi-chapter fic. If you want to see where this is going, let me know by leaving comments and kudos, and bookmarking it. (Fair warning: it probably won't be updated until after the holidays are over.)

Allison heard banging on the door to her dorm. It sounded frantic and, frankly, it scared her. She peeked out the peep hole, and relief settled in the pit of her stomach.

  


“Lydia?” Allison asked as she opened her door. “Are you okay?”

  


“I’ve done something extremely stupid.”

  


The brunette sighed, “It wasn’t another one night stand, was it?”

  


“What? No! That was _one time_ , Allison!”

  


“Okay, sorry! What is it then?”

  


She took a deep breath. “My mom asked if my boyfriend was still coming to Christmas dinner.”

  


“And? What did you say?”

  


“Well, I hesitated. I was going to tell her the truth, that we broke up.”

  


“Broke up? You made him up to begin with!”

  


“Details! I told her he wasn’t my boyfriend anymore, but then she started being all ‘You broke up with him?’, ‘You’re too wild’, ‘You need to be more mature.’ And then I panicked.”

  


“What did you say?”

  


“I said that he wasn’t my boyfriend anymore because he was my fiancé and... yes...he’s coming with me for Christmas.”

  


“Oh…my…God…”

  


“I know!”

  


“Well, you know what you have to do now…”

  


“What?”

  


“Kill him.”

  


“I can’t kill my fake fiancé!”

  


“Okay, then I’ll do it.”

  


“No! No one is killing anyone!”

  


“Exactly. Because _he doesn’t exist_!”

  


Lydia finally walked into the dorm and collapsed onto her best friend’s bed, while Allison shut the door behind her.

  


Allison sighed. “I have an idea, but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

  


“What is it?”

  


“Have you heard about Secret Santa?”

  


“You mean, the present exchange game?”

  


“No, I mean the online blind date thing that’s been going around campus.”

  


Lydia shook her head. “No, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  


Allison sat down next to her friend. “Apparently it was somebody’s final project. They created a website called Secret Santa. It’s for people who don’t want to spend the holidays alone. You fill out a survey when you sign up and they created some algorithm that will find your best match based on the answers given. Then the two of you go on a date, or just spend time together over winter break. You either choose to plan the date or pay for the date, and you’ll try to be matched with somebody who wants to do the opposite.”

  


“That sounds sketchy.” Lydia’s phone beeped and she took a look at it. “Oh my God… My mom bought me two plane tickets.”

  


“One for the way there and one for the way back?” Allison asked hopefully.

  


“No, two round-trip tickets. One for me, and one for my fake fiancé.” Allison bit back a laugh. “It’s not funny, Allison!”

  


“Oh no, believe me. It is.”

  


* * *

  


_Congratulations, Lydia!_

  


_You’ve been matched with participant 42987._

  


_You have elected to_ Plan the Date _. Please reply with a message you would like to include to your Secret Santa. It can only be 100 characters or less and needs to include a date, time, and place to meet and what your S.S. should wear on your date. Have fun!_

  


“100 characters?!” Lydia exclaimed when she read the email a few days later. She took several minutes trying to form her response, and ultimately ended up with this:

  


Meet @ Hall H/Room 16 @ 7:00 a.m. on 12/23. Pack a week’s worth of clothes. Prepare for all weather.

  


It was 100 characters exactly, and wasn't even half of what she wanted to say. But she guessed it got the point across. She just really hoped this guy showed up and the whole “week's worth of clothes” didn't scare him off. She also hoped that 7 wasn't too early for him. They'd need to leave the dorms by 8 to make it to the airport. Hopefully this guy was okay with planes too. There were so many variables that she was beginning to regret risking it all on someone she'd never met. If she showed up to Christmas dinner boyfriend-less, (much less fiance-less), she would never hear the end of it.

 

* * *

 

The 23rd finally came and Lydia's stomach was in knots. She woke up at 5:30 after falling asleep at 3:45, but she couldn't get back to sleep.

 

At 6:53, she heard a knock on her door. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and prepare for the worst, then opened the door. The guy that stood in front of her was a good half foot taller (at least), brown hair, and brown eyes... actually...  _really_ attractive (that was another thing she was worried about, but she would never admit to being shallow-even though she was.)

 

“Hi,” she breathed out.

 

“Hi. Uhh...Hall H, room 16?” Lydia didn't say anything at first, seemingly having forgotten all forms of speech. “Sorry,” he apologized and stuck his hand out. “I'm Stiles. Your Secret Santa.”

 

She shook her self out of her daze and extended her hand toward him. “Lydia.” She grasped his hand tightly and then pleaded, “Please don't hate me.”

 

“You have to cancel?” he looked utterly dejected.

 

“No! No nothing like that,” she assured him. “Umm, it's just... Come inside. I'll explain everything.”

 

* * *

 

“So...I have to pretend to be your fiancé?”

 

Lydia couldn't look at him. She was hunched over with her arms crossed in front of her stomach trying to relieve the tension that had taken up permanent residence there.

 

“Yes,” she nodded.

 

“And how long are we supposed to have been dating?”

 

“Um...10 months?”

 

“And how long do we have before we're going to see your parents?”

 

Lydia looked at the time and sighed. “Roughly 10 and a half hours.”

 

“Ten hours to pretend we've been dating for ten months?” Lydia nodded. “Well, then I guess we need to get to work.”

 

Lydia's head shot up. “What? You're serious? You'll do it?”

 

“I mean...that's the deal, right? You plan the date and I pay for it...I mean... I'm not going to lie...it's a _weird_ date, but this whole thing is because I don't want to spend the holidays alone, and I'm definitely _not_ spending them alone.”

 

“No you definitely aren't,” she shook her head.

 

“How much is this going to cost me anyway?”

 

“Well, most of the food will be included, and my mom already bought both plane tickets. She bought them both in my name though, so I just have to call and transfer one to yours.”

 

“And that'll cost what? Like $200.00?”

 

“For normal people... but I'm not normal.” She smiled mischievously.

 

* * *

 

“Okay, again,” Lydia encouraged.

 

Stiles sighed and rubbed his eyes. They'd already been flying for two hours, and he just wanted to sleep. “We met in a coffee shop, and it was love at first sight. We went to the movies on our first date-”

 

“What did we see?”

 

“Some Nicholas Sparks book-turned-movie.”

 

“You need to know the exact name. You're supposed to be in love with me.”

 

Stiles smirked. “How could I remember the name when I can barely remember the movie? I was too busy looking at you.”

 

Lydia let her mouth drop open, “Really?”

 

Stiles sighed. “No, not _really._ Lydia, we've never been to the movies together. We only met five hours ago.”

 

Lydia shook her head and sat back in her seat. “Right, sorry... it's been a long day already.”

 

“Tell me about it.”

 

She blushed slightly and turned back to him. “I like that though...keep that.”

 

Stiles was still smirking when he nodded. He yawned and looked out the window for a moment, before turning back to her. “What about PDA?” He grabbed her hand softly, and lightly rubbed the back of it. “I mean... holding hands...kissing...” Lydia was staring, mouth agape as electric shocks pulsed through her veins. “Is that something that we're big on?” He ended the interaction by bringing her hand to his lips. “Hmm?”

 

Lydia nodded, “God, I hope so.” She swallowed. “You can just touch me any time you want.” Stiles quirked an eyebrow. “And yes, I'm aware of how that sounded, and no...I don't regret saying it.” He chuckled, although Lydia could see that his cheeks had turned a light shade of pink. Was he embarrassed? She decided not to call him out on it. “Just,” she began again, “get it into your head, that I'm your girlfriend-”

 

“Fiancée,” Stiles corrected.

 

“Fiancée. Treat me like you would if we were actually together. Touch me, kiss me...Just...if I tell you to stop...”

 

“I'll stop.”

 

Lydia nodded slowly then looked away. “My ex called me a tease a lot. I didn't do it on purpose...I just...” she shook her head. “I don't know. It's not important...”

 

“While we're talking about it,” Stiles started, “I'm perfectly fine with committing to this act one hundred percent. With or without your family watching us. I just want you to know that coming into this, I had zero expectations. My only goal was to have some company for the holidays. If it goes somewhere, great! If I lose a fiancée at the end of this, that's okay too. I can already tell you though... this is definitely one date I won't forget.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I got several comments and kudos on this story with people wanting me to continue it, so here it is! Hope you enjoy it!

“Stiles?”

 

Stiles's eyes opened. He hadn't remembered falling asleep.

 

“We're about to land,” Lydia told him. He blinked at her, confused for a moment about _where_ he was and who _she_ was. “You're not changing your mind are you?” she asked, apparently confusing his confusion with doubt.

 

That's when he remembered their deal. He yawned and stretched as he shook his head. “No, I'm good. Sorry, I'm just tired. I couldn't sleep last night.”

 

“Me neither,” she admitted. “But, I've also never been good at sleeping on planes either so...I apologize in advance if I crash as soon as we get there.”

 

“I'll probably be right there with you.” Lydia smiled and bit her lip.

 

“I just...want to apologize again for how weird this is.”

 

“It's fine, I mean.. I agreed to it too.”

 

“Yeah..you did. Um... _why_ did you agree, again?”

 

“Like I said... I didn't want to be alone. Believe it or not, this is better than my other options.” He got a sad, faraway look in his eye and Lydia wanted to ask him what happened, but decided that wasn't her place, fake fiancee or not.

 

Speaking of which, she reached below her seat and pulled out her purse. She dug through it a moment before producing her engagement ring.

 

“Do you want to do the honors?” she asked, holding the ring out.

 

“Wait, is _that_ supposed to be the ring that I got you?”

 

“I bought it on Amazon for cheap. I plan on returning it when we get back.”

 

“Yeah, I can tell how cheap it was. Your family is going to think I _had_ to propose with no time to save for it at all.”

 

“What do you mean _had_?” Stiles gave her a look, and motioned with his eyes to her stomach. “Okay, one, they won't think that. Two, if they do, you can tell them that you wanted to get me something nicer, but it's what I picked out-”

 

“Would _you_ actually pick _that_ out?”

 

Lydia didn't answer, she just added, “And three, why do you care what my family thinks of you? It's not like they're really going to be your in-laws.”

 

“Well, yeah... I _know_ that...but it doesn't mean I don't want to make a good impression.” Lydia rolled her eyes, but felt the ring leave her hand.

 

Stiles was looking it over. “Maybe your real ring is being resized, or engraved or something and we bought another one just so you'd have something to wear.”

 

Lydia sighed. “Okay, we'll go with that.”

 

Stiles took her left hand and Lydia felt the electricity come back.

 

“Once this ring goes on, I'm going to fully commit to this role,” he warned her.

 

“I wouldn't have it any other way. We need to be fully immersed. We'll never know when someone is watching.”

 

“Well, then... Lydia....uh...what was your last name again?”

 

“Martin.”

 

“Right! Lydia Martin, will you pretend to want to marry me?”

 

“Well...I don't know...did you ask my dad first?”

 

“Oh shit! Is that going to be an issue?”

 

“Stiles...” Lydia groaned.

 

“No, Lydia! I'm serious! I still have to spend a week with this man. Is he going to be pissed that I didn't ask his permission?”

 

Lydia sighed. “My dad and I don't get along. He and my mom divorced when I was young and I only see him on holidays. If he doesn't like you, then the feeling should be mutual.”

 

Stiles nodded slowly. “Okay, then. Anything else I should know about your family?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“What then?”

 

“No...yes.. I want to pretend to want to marry you.”

 

“You're avoiding the question,” he told her with a small smile.

 

“I've already told you about everyone.”

 

“Yeah, except you forgot to mention how much you don't like your dad.”

 

“I just prefer not to talk about him, okay?”

 

Stiles took a beat. “You're right. Not my business.” He slid the ring onto her finger. “There,” he said softly. “Perfect fit.”

 

He glanced from her hand, back up to her eyes, and before either of them could process what she was doing, Lydia had placed her hands on the sides of his face and closed the gap between them.

 

His eyes opened wide, in surprise, but only for a moment, before settling into the kiss. His hand went to the back of her head, his fingers threading through her hair, the other hand fell to her waist. His tongue darted across her lips, and she opened her mouth and pulled him closer. Fire and ice were coursing through her bloodstream, and her hands had fallen from his face to his shirt collar. She was gripping tightly as she was trying to pull him even closer, which wasn't possible for safety reasons.

 

“Excuse me,” Lydia heard, but made no move to break the kiss. The woman cleared her throat, and this time, Stiles (reluctantly) broke the kiss. Lydia kept her eyes closed as she tried to steady her breathing. “We're de-boarding,” the lady, (who sounded a lot like the flight attendant, Lydia was beginning to realize), said as nicely as she could.

 

“Thank you,” Stiles replied, mouth dry.

 

Lydia heard the flight attendant walk away and she opened her eyes to see Stiles staring back at her. People around them were moving, but they were remaining perfectly still.

 

“You said,” she began, her breathing slowly going back to normal, “once the ring goes on-”

 

“Yeah..yeah I know. I still am... _believe me_. That was one hell of a kiss.”

 

“You're telling me.”

 

Stiles cleared his throat and looked over Lydia's shoulder. “We should really probably get up.”

 

“Yeah,” Lydia agreed.

 

* * *

 

They sat for another minute or two before finally getting off the plane.

 

“My mom's supposed to be meeting us somewhere around here,” Lydia said as she looked around the airport after they'd grabbed their bags.

 

“I'm nervous,” Stiles told her as he too looked around, with no idea who he was actually looking for.

 

“You'll be fine,” she assured him.

 

“What if they don't like me..or worse, what if they know we're lying to them, and then your dad kills me!”

 

“Well, that's a little extreme,” Lydia inserted.

 

“Oh God...I really didn't think this through. I was so sleep deprived I probably would have agreed to be an accessory to murder.”

 

“Stiles!” Lydia called his name firmly and grabbed his left hand with her right. He stopped talking and looked back at her. Softly, she began, “We're committed...remember? You're not some guy I met this morning. You're my fiance.”

 

He took a deep breathe and brushed his thumb across her cheek with his free hand. She reached up with her left hand and placed it gently on top of his right hand on her cheek.

 

“You're right,” he whispered. “I don't know why I'm freaking out.” He closed his eyes and leaned his head forward, so that his forehead was resting on top of hers.

 

“It's fine,” she told him, closing her eyes too. “If you start freaking out again, just look at me.”

 

She felt him nod his head against hers, and his hand on her cheek tightened its grip. Without opening her eyes, she could feel him bringing her head forward, and his lips only millimeters away. It was agonizing how close he was. She'd known the guy for all of 10 hours, and already she couldn't get enough of him. His lips had barely grazed hers when she heard someone call her name.

 

“Lydia!”

 

She opened her eyes and saw Stiles staring back at her.

 

“We've got this,” she told him, as she slowly dropped the hand that was resting on top of his, and turned around, “Mom!”

 

“Oh, Sweetie!” Natalie Martin ran up to her daughter and wrapped her in a hug. “I've missed you so much! Now,” she pulled away. “Where is my future son-in-law?”

 

Lydia smiled and turned around to look at Stiles. “Mom, this is Stiles.”

 

“Ms. Martin,” Stiles addressed her as he held out his hand to shake hers. “I've heard so much about you.”

 

“Oh,” Natalie waved her hand in front of her. “One, it's Natalie. Please. And two, we're going to be family, so I want a hug.”

 

Stiles let out a surprised, “Oh!” as Natalie threw her arms around him.

 

“You know,” Natalie said as she pulled away. “Lydia's been so secretive about you, I was actually beginning to think she'd made you up completely.”

 

Stiles laughed uncomfortably, and turned to Lydia, a terrified smile plastered on his face. “You hear that, honey. Your mom didn't think I was real!”

 

Lydia smiled, taking his hand once more. “Oh, he's real alright,” she said mostly to Stiles, and then for flourish, but also because they'd gotten interrupted last time, she softly touched his face then went up on her tip toes to kiss him reassuringly.

 

“Alright, come on you two. You've made your point,” Natalie joked. “Your grandmother's waiting in the car.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh my goodness!” Natalie exclaimed once they walked into the house. “I just realized, I never asked to see the ring!”

 

“Oh-” Lydia began as Natalie snatched her daughter's hand up.

 

Lydia saw the grimace that passed over Natalie's face. “Oh...it's so....unique.”

 

Lorraine looked over her daughter-in-law's shoulder to see it. “Huh...” she looked back up from Stiles then to Lydia. “Is there something else we need to know?”

 

“What? No!” Lydia jerked her hand back and looked at Stiles who was giving her an I-told-you-so look.

 

“Don't worry,” Stiles finally said as he pulled out his phone. “This isn't her actual ring. The real one is getting sized and engraved. The jewelers were supposed to have it back to us before we left, but apparently they got behind in their orders.” Stiles flipped the phone around to show the women a picture.

 

“Oh my God! That's gorgeous!” Natalie gushed.

 

“I wanna see!” Lydia blurted. Stiles turned back to her, and widened his eyes. “I mean... I just want to see what picture you're showing them.”

 

“It's the good picture,” Stiles assured her. “I deleted the blurry ones.” He took the phone back and gave it to Lydia. “See?”

 

Lydia gasped. “That's so pretty!” She paused and looked up at Stiles and the women. “I just... I haven't seen it in such a long time, I almost forgot what it looked like.”

 

Stiles closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

 

“You two should go put your things away in your room. Maybe take a nap. I know you're probably beat, Lydia,” Lorraine told her granddaughter.

 

“Yeah....wait. You're okay with us both staying in my room?”

 

“Of course!” Natalie smiled. “Sweetie, you're engaged. Who am I to tell you that you can't sleep in the same room as your fiance? Besides, Malia is staying in the guest room.”

 

Lydia groaned.

 

“Uh...who's Malia?” Stiles asked uncomfortably.

 

“My husband's daughter,” Natalie supplied.

 

"Husband? Lydia said you were divorced?" Stiles looked over at his fake fiance.

 

"Oh, I was divorced from Lydia's father, but I got remarried a couple of years ago to my husband, Henry Tate."

 

"Tate? I'm so sorry. I called you Ms. Martin. Why didn't you say anything?"

 

"Honestly, I was Natalie Martin longer than any other name. It didn't even occur to me that you'd said it wrong. Also," she continued, as she gave her daughter a look, "I assume that Lydia conveniently forgot to tell you about her step-father."

 

"Yeah, I did,” Lydia admitted. “Sorry, Babe."

 

Stiles shook his head. "No, but I remember you talking about step-siblings. I just thought they were on your dad's side."

 

“No, the step-siblings I talked about _are_ on my dad's side. I don't tend to talk about Malia. We knew each other in elementary school, and the first and last time we saw each other since then was the wedding. We're not that close."

 

“Don't worry about it, guys,” Natalie told them. “Just go get some sleep. We'll catch up more when you wake up. I want to hear every detail of this proposal.”

 

“You got it, Mom. Come on, Stiles. I'll show you where my room is.”

 

* * *

 

“Oh my God!” Stiles exclaimed as soon as he was in Lydia's room. “I'm stress sweating.”

 

“You're doing great!” Lydia tried.

 

“Yeah, especially when you just so happen to forget to tell me about a whole side of your family.”

 

“I'm sorry! They started dating, got engaged, _and_ got married all while I've been away at school. I always forget they're together.” She motioned to her dresser. “The bottom right drawer should be empty if you need to put any of your clothes in there.”

 

“I'll need to hang some shirts up,” Stiles told her as he walked toward the dresser and opened his suitcase.

 

Lydia was already walking toward the closet. “Don't worry. I've got plenty of hangers.” She grabbed a stack and threw them onto her bed, then unzipped her bag and began to hang some of her clothes. They were silent for a moment, putting their clothes away, until Lydia spoke up. “That picture-”

 

“Yeah!” Stiles interrupted her, “What was all of that about? You clearly lost it for a second.”

 

“Sorry,” she said with a small shake of her head. “It just caught me off guard that you were prepared with a picture.”

 

“It's not a big deal.” He shrugged. “I just went to Google, typed in 'engagement ring' and clicked on the first one that popped up that wasn't copyrighted.”

 

Lydia nodded slowly. “Okay... you don't have to tell me. It's fine.”

 

“What are you talking about? I just told you.”

 

“It was on your camera roll, Stiles.”

 

“Yeah, I saved it.”

 

“Back in March?” Stiles didn't reply. “It was picture number 550 of 632-”

 

“You don't let things go do you?” Stiles stopped putting clothes away and looked up at her.

 

Lydia went quiet for a moment, looking up from the hangers to meet his eyes. “You're right. Sorry.”

 

They were back in silence for a few minutes and went back to unpacking before Stiles finally said, “My friend Scott sent the picture to me in a text awhile back and I saved it. Okay?”

 

“Okay,” she replied softly. “I know you're still lying, but it's okay. You don't have to tell me.”

 

“Why the hell would you think I'm lying to you?” Stiles closed the dresser drawer and moved over to the bed to begin hanging things up.

 

“Because why would you save a picture of a ring that was clearly on a girl's hand? I don't know. Maybe you're not lying, but you're not telling me the whole truth either.”

 

“What reason would I have to lie to you? I don't even know you.”

 

“I don't know. Maybe that's just it. You don't know me, so you can make your life what you want it to be. Maybe the real story behind the ring is too painful.” Lydia grabbed her newly hung clothes and turned to stuff them into her closet. When she turned back to him, his eyes were closed. “Are you okay?”

 

He let out a puff of air before nodding. “I'm fine.”

 

Lydia saw the hangers tremble in his hand. “Are you sure?” she asked him, as she walked back over to him. “Your hands are shaking-”

 

“I said I'm fin-” He stopped suddenly as her hands clasped around his. He stared down at their hands as he felt his breathing steady itself.

 

“I know you said you were okay before, but are you better now?” she asked gently.

 

Stiles nodded, “Thank you.”

 

“No problem. Let's just lay down. We'll finish putting everything up later.” He nodded again, but neither of them pulled away from the others' touch.

 

“I...I guess I should get some extra blankets and-”

 

“Stiles,” Lydia said his name and Stiles looked back at her. “You're my _fiance_. Remember? You're sleeping with me.”

 

Stiles nodded. “Good.”

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Here's the next chapter! I hope everyone enjoys it :)

 

Lydia's eyes fluttered open and she rolled over, finding that she had the whole bed to herself. Wasn't there someone else here when she fell asleep...oh yeah! Stiles... her fiance....well...of the _pretend_ variety.

 

So then, where had he gone?

 

She sat up slowly and stretched as she tried to force her legs to work. She really didn't want to leave the comforts of her bed, and yet there was a part of her that felt something was off without Stiles in the bed with her.

 

It was illogical. She'd never met the guy before today, but somehow it felt like she could barely remember a time without him.

 

She finally stood and ambled over to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it and heading down the hall.

 

“Like this?” she heard Stiles's voice.

 

“Yep, just like that!” That was her grandmother's reply.

 

Lydia followed their voices into the kitchen.

 

“Hi,” she said sleepily as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

 

“Hey,” he smiled. He was currently elbow deep in what looked like meat loaf, so he leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. “How was your nap?”

 

“Not long enough,” Lydia replied. “I was worried when I woke up and you weren't there.”

 

“Yeah,” Stiles laughed. “I got up to go to the bathroom and ended up getting roped into making dinner.” He smiled up at Lorraine.

 

“He says he's never cooked before!” Lorraine told her granddaughter, as if it was the most blasphemous thing that could have been said in her house. “I told him, either he's pulling my leg and he's a marvelous chef, or he's telling the truth and the boy doesn't know a spatula from a whisk...either way I need him in my kitchen. At least one of you needs to know how to cook.” Lorraine turned to Stiles in a stage whisper, “My granddaughter is very bright, but cooking was never her strong suit.”

 

“Grandma!”

 

“It's the truth! I've put out more microwave fires than I can count because of her.”

 

Stiles laughed as he looked down at Lydia. “You know, I can honestly say I've never caught a microwave on fire.”

 

Lydia huffed, “Well it's not like you need to brag or anything.” Stiles chuckled, and Lydia begrudgingly let him go. “I guess I'm going to go take a shower.”

 

“Lydia!” Stiles gasped.

 

“What?” Lydia asked thoroughly confused.

 

“Now is not the time. Your grandmother is _right here_.”

 

“No!” Lydia felt herself blush as she looked back to Lorraine. “I wasn't saying that...” But then Stiles and Lorraine both started laughing and Lydia wasn't sure if she was mad at him for making her flustered or happy that he was getting along so well with her family. “I hate you both so much,” she told them with a laugh.

 

“Love you too,” they replied at the same time, then looked at one another.

 

“Okay, that's just creepy,” Lydia told them with a shake of her head.

 

 

* * *

 

“Oh my God!” Lydia yelped and gripped her towel tighter around her body as she walked back into her room.

 

“Sorry!” Stiles quickly apologized. “I was trying to finish putting my clothes away. The food has been prepped, we're just waiting for the oven to do its job.”

 

“It's fine,” Lydia told him as she took a few deep breaths to calm herself back down.

 

“Do I need to step out or-”

 

“No, uh..It's okay.”

 

Stiles stopped and looked up at her. “Wait...what did you say?”

 

“I said 'it's okay'.”

 

“No, before that...did you call me Noah?”

 

“No,” she shook her head. “I said _No,_ _Uh_.”

 

“Oh,” he shook his head, and forced a laugh. “Sorry.”

 

Lydia was quiet for a moment as she went to her dresser and rummaged through her clothes. “Why would you think I was calling you 'Noah'?”

 

“No reason,” he shrugged. He grabbed a change of clothes then went to the door. “My turn for the shower. Where are the towels?”

 

“In the linen closet, just inside the bathroom.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Lydia!”

 

Lydia jumped as she heard her step-sister address her.

 

“Malia! I didn't realize you were here. Stiles didn't say anything.”

 

“Who's Stiles?” she asked in confusion.

 

“Malia just walked in,” Lorraine told her. “Stiles wasn't in here.”

 

“Oh,” Lydia said, then turned back to Malia. “Stiles is my f-”

 

“Lydia!”

 

Lydia turned around, and fell straight into the most awkward hug with her step-sister's boyfriend. “Oh...hey, Isaac.” Isaac was always too friendly and Lydia could only handle him in small doses.

 

“So, I'm officially in nursing school!”

 

“Oh wow! Congrats!”

 

“Yeah...” Then with a wink, he added, “Wanna see my stethoscope?”

 

“I...think I'll pass.” Lydia grimaced. Along with Isaac's friendliness, he was also a serial flirter, and Lydia never knew where to draw the line with him.

 

“Okay,” Malia cut in. “Seriously, who is Stiles?”

 

“I'm Stiles. Hi.” Lydia looked back at the boy who had just appeared around the corner. His hair was still wet, and his t-shirt was clinging to his body in ways Lydia didn't know was possible.

 

“Holy shit,” she mumbled before she could stop herself. Stiles looked up at her, and raised an eyebrow. “Uh... sorry...” she said as she began to walk over to him “... you should take showers more often.” His eyebrow creased now. “I mean, not that you stink normally...just... you're just...”

 

Thankfully, Stiles cut her off by wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her lips. She got lost in the kiss the moment his lips were on hers. Her hand came up to the back of his neck and she felt droplets of water hit her face as they fell from his hair.

 

It wasn't until she heard someone clear their throat. that Lydia remembered they weren't along and reluctantly pulled away and looked back at Malia and Isaac. “This is Stiles,” she told them breathlessly. “He's...” she started to tell them who he was to her, or at least who he was supposed to be, but she made the mistake of looking back at him, and being this close to him with his hair looking like that, her brain just shut down, “...really hot.”

 

He chuckled then looked back at the two newcomers. “I'm her fiance.”

 

“Fiance!” Lydia concurred. She felt like she was drunk. Drunk on Stiles...the guy she just met that day. The guy that she wanted to take back to her room right now. The guy whose hand was sliding further down her back and now resting at the top of her ass. She knew it was mostly for Isaac's benefit. Like some sort of primal possession thing that said he needed to send a signal to prove she was off limits. Normally Lydia would make a fuss about how she wasn't the type of woman who belonged to anyone, but she couldn't help but feel a buzz of excitement over the fact that he'd felt that urge with her. Lydia leaned into Stiles's side as she saw Isaac step closer to Malia. She chuckled as she wiped her face where the water had dripped. “You got me all wet.”

 

“I'm sure he did,” Isaac smirked, and hi-fived his girlfriend's waiting hand.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I'm so sorry it took so long for this chapter to get posted. The past few months have been completely and utterly crazy and I hate how little I've been able to write, but I hope you enjoy this chapter...even though it's kind of short and I apologize.

 

“Lydia?”

 

She heard her name, but it sounded so soft and far away.

 

“Lydia, wake up.”

 

Wake up? Was she asleep? When did she fall asleep?

 

She tried to force her eyes open, but she couldn't do it. Instead she let out a groan.

 

It wasn't until she felt herself being carried that something jarred the switch in her brain that made her eyes open.

 

“Stiles?” she mumbled and looked around. “What's going on?”

 

“Oh, you're awake,” he was saying as they walked into her room. “Everyone else went to bed. I guess we fell asleep in the middle of the movie.”

 

He placed her down on the bed and Lydia struggled to sit up, looking over at the alarm clock on her bedside table.

 

3:23 am.

 

“Merry Christmas Eve.”

 

Stiles, who had gone to the dresser to find his pajama bottoms, turned around and smiled. “Merry Christmas Eve.” He looked back at the drawer to pull out the pants and a t-shirt then stood and faced her again. “I uh...I need to change.”

 

Lydia smirked sleepily, “Why? I think you seem fine just the way you are.”

 

Stiles chuckled and held the articles up. “Change _clothes_ ,” he specified, even though he knew that she was only joking.

 

“Okay,” she shrugged. “I'm not stopping you.” Stiles looked down and she saw a hint of a blush enter his cheeks. “Wait...” She straightened up. “Are you...nervous?”

 

“I'm just...kind of....self-conscious I guess.”

 

Lydia laughed, but then saw the way he was biting his lip. “Oh my God... you're serious?” She was suddenly more alert, and now he looked embarrassed. “I'm sorry,” she apologized “It's just... I wouldn't think you'd have anything to be self-conscious about.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, my arms were around you today, and I saw the way your shirt looked after you got out of the shower. I _really_ don't think you have anything to worry about.” He still looked a little unsure, and Lydia sighed. “Fine, I need to get changed too.” Before he knew it, she'd shed her shirt and was sitting on her bed in a bra and her skirt. “There. Now it's your turn.”

 

When she looked back up at him, he was staring slack-jawed at her. Finally, he was able to form sentences.

 

“Well, you certainly don't have anything to worry about. You're beautiful.”

 

Lydia sat back on her heels, in shock. “You think so?” she asked softly.

 

“Yeah... I do.”

 

Lydia looked down, feeling herself begin to blush. “Thank you,” she mumbled, barely above a whisper.

 

Stiles chuckled softly. “Now you look like the one who's nervous.”

 

Lydia smiled and bit her lip as she looked back up at him. “I don't know...it's just...no one's really called me beautiful in a long time.”

 

“What?” Stiles's eyes widened in disbelief. “You're kidding!” he added as he sat down next to her on the bed.

 

Lydia shook her head. “My ex used to call me hot and sexy, until he got mad when I wouldn't have sex with him and he called me other things...”

 

“He verbally abused you?”

 

“I...” Lydia began before stopping and thinking about it. “I never thought of it that way...but I guess he did.”

 

“What a dick,” Stiles grumbled and Lydia shivered. “Are you cold?”

 

Lydia was staring at him as she shook head 'no'. Something about the way he looked at her when he called her 'beautiful' and  his genuine reaction when she told him about her ex...it made him even more attractive. It wasn't just that he had a pretty face....he had a good heart too.

 

“Really?” he continued with a slight chuckle, “because you're shivering and you-”

 

She cut him off with a kiss, and her hands flew to the sides of his face. Lydia felt him freeze for a moment, and then her stomach turned at the feeling of rejection.

 

Suddenly she felt his hand on her hip, his thumb gently stroking the skin above the waist line of her skirt, and that was all the encouragement she needed.

 

With a renewed energy, she took this opportunity to adjust herself so that she was straddling his lap. His grip on her waist tightened and his other hand found purchase on the other hip. Her hands went from his face, to his neck before finally landing on his shoulders and slipping underneath the plaid shirt he was wearing to push it off of him.

 

He removed one arm at a time, not wanting there to be a second where his hands weren't on her body.

 

Lydia finally broke the kiss for a moment to take a breath. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Stiles's eyes were still closed. Her hand came back up to his face and she began to stroke his cheek with her thumb. His eyes opened slowly, and they were both breathing heavily.

 

“What's wrong?” Stiles asked softly.

 

Lydia took a beat before smiling and shaking her head. “Nothing.”

 

“You seem surprised by that.”

 

Lydia bit her lip in response. Her hand left his face and slid down to the hem of his shirt. “Are you still nervous about taking your shirt off in front of me?”

 

“Yes,” he replied softly, “But for a different reason.”

 

Lydia cocked her head slightly, still playing at the bottom of his shirt. “What do you mean?”

 

He tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled her head back down to his lips once more. Her hands slipped under his shirt and she ran her nails along his back, feeling goosebumps form under her finger tips.

 

She pulled back to look at him again before grabbing at his shirt and tugging it over his head. His arm wrapped around her as their lips connected once more and she felt him lift her up as he repositioned them so that she was laying down and he was over her.

 

Something about this new angle made her think about things more. Like, how insane all of this was. How she barely knew this guy, and yet she felt like she'd known him for years. Ten seconds earlier, she was ready to screw him without a second thought, but now, she was terrified of the way she was feeling. This needed to stop.

 

Her hand came up to his chest, and she opened her mouth to say “Wait” when they heard the loud moan come from the other side of the wall.

 

They both opened their eyes and looked at one another, as if asking the other “Was that you?”

 

“Oh God! Isaac!”

 

They both sat up with mixtures of shock and disgust on their faces.

 

“Um...” Stiles began slowly. “Did that totally ruin the moment?”

 

“Oh, baby!”

 

“Actually,” Lydia started, “I was kind of starting to feel a little...overwhelmed...maybe it's a sign... maybe we should slow down.”

 

Stiles nodded slowly. “Yeah...maybe you're right.”

 

Lydia climbed off the bed to grab her pajamas and Stiles followed her. They each got dressed for bed silently. When Lydia flipped the light off, she turned around to see that Stiles was already in the bed. She got back in, and snuggled into him and he wrapped his arm around her.

 

They hadn't heard anything from the other room for several minutes and they were both edging on dozing off when suddenly...

  
  
_Thud. Thud._ “Yes!”

 

Both of their eyes popped open.

 

 _Thud. Thud. Thud._ “Oh God, yes!” _Thud._

 

“Oh God...” Stiles muttered in slight panic.

 

 _Thud._ “Isaac!” _Thud._

 

“What do we do?” Stiles whispered hastily.

 

“I don't know,” Lydia replied, mortified. “Wish we were dead?”

 

 _Thud._ “Right there!” _Thud. Thud._ “Harder!” _Thud._

 

“Oh, good... I'm already doing that.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like every chapter begins with me apologizing for how long it takes to update between chapters.
> 
> But really...the worst part about it is that these chapters have been written for months. I just haven't gotten around to editing them and posting them. 
> 
> Basically... I suck.
> 
> BUT please enjoy this chapter!
> 
> *Also, since Mr. Martin is never given a name in the show, I named him Jeff, after the actor that portrayed him. (NOT after Jeff Davis).*

“Knock, knock!” Natalie's voice wafted into the room.

 

Lydia opened her eyes slowly before realizing her mother was standing in the door. “Mom?” Lydia asked as she instinctively pulled the covers over them, even though they were by no means indecent. “What are you doing in here?”

 

“It's time for our Christmas Eve breakfast! Come on! Hurry! Malia and Isaac are already up.”

 

“What? How?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Lydia shook her head.“Nevermind. We'll be there in a minute.” Lydia waved her hand and Natalie shut the door. “Stiles...” Lydia gave her fake fiance a light shake. “Wake up. It's time for breakfast.”

 

“Mmm breakfast?” he mumbled, and tried to sit up.

 

“Yeah, apparently Malia and Isaac are already awake.”

 

His head snapped up. “How?”

 

Lydia shook her head and shrugged. “Hell if I know. Come on. I smell bacon.”

 

“Mmm...bacon.” The thought of bacon gave them the energy to make it out of bed, then trudge down the hall.

 

“Morning, sleepyheads!” Malia chirped before stuffing pancakes into her mouth.

 

Lydia grunted a reply.

 

“You're dad's going to be here in a couple of hours,” Natalie mentioned to her daughter when she and Stiles sat down at the table.

 

“Why today?” Lydia asked as she reached for the pitcher of orange juice.

 

“Because he wants to meet Stiles before tomorrow.”

 

Stiles, who had picked up his fork, dropped it back onto his plate making a loud, clanging noise.

 

“What?” He gaped at Lydia, and Lydia looked equally as frightened.

 

“Uh...why?” she asked her mom.

 

“I don't know.” Natalie shrugged. “Just said he wanted to spend time alone with him.”

 

“A-alone?” Stiles croaked, but Mr. Tate, whom Stiles had met last night at dinner, started a different topic. Stiles sat back in his chair.

 

“I'm suddenly not very hungry,” he whispered.

 

“It'll be fine,” Lydia tried to reassure him, and grabbed his hand under the table. She gently ran a thumb over his knuckles and saw him visibly calm down, before giving her a small smile.

 

“Thanks,” he whispered.

 

“No problem,” she grinned. “Now, are you going to eat your bacon?”

 

“Um...yeah!” he told her as he put an entire strip into his mouth. Lydia nibbled on hers as she smiled up at him, neither of them realizing they'd gone into their own little world.

 

* * *

 

“I don't feel well,” Stiles whined as he laid on Lydia's bed.

 

“You'll be okay,” Lydia said with a smirk as she finished doing her makeup.

 

“No,” Stiles said shaking his head. “I'm going to be sick.”

 

Lydia sighed and plopped down onto the bed. “Why are you going to be sick?”

 

“I have really bad social anxiety.”

 

Lydia scoffed, “Yeah...I'd believe that, except for the fact that you voluntarily signed up for a blind date, agreed to the terms I laid out when we met, and had no problems meeting and bonding with every other member of my family. What's wrong with my dad?”

 

“Maybe it's because he's your _dad_? You're his little girl, and as far he knows I'm the guy who's going to take your virginity on our wedding night.”

 

Lydia laughed, “I'm by no means still a virgin.”

 

“Yeah, but does your dad know that?”

 

“Yes,” she said almost immediately, but in response to the look Stiles gave right after that, her confidence faltered. “No...I don't- Wait... what do you mean _yeah_? Do I look like I'm easy?”

 

“What? I....I don't have time to get flustered right now, Lydia. I'm going to die!”

 

Lydia sighed. “You're not going die. You're just nervous.”

 

“I don't mean die from nervousness. I mean your father is going to kill me.”

 

Before Lydia could respond there was a knock at her door, and a moment later, Lorraine poked her head inside.

 

“Your dad's here.”

 

“Okay,” Lydia replied, and Lorraine turned to walk away. “Hey, Grandma,” Lydia called her back, and she looked expectantly at her granddaughter. “Tell Stiles he has nothing to worry about.”

 

Lorraine smiled, opened her mouth to say something but stopped herself, and smiled again before walking away.

 

Lydia's smile fell and, panicked, she turned back to Stiles, who wore a grim 'I-told-you-so' look. “As my fake fiance, I'd like for you to plan my funeral,” he told her solemnly. 

 

Lydia shook her head and walked over to stand in front of him and grab his hands. “It'll be okay. Just....be yourself. And like I said, it doesn't matter if he likes you or not.”

 

“Unless he kills me.”

 

“He's not going to kill you. He didn't kill any of my other boyfriends...they all just went to live on some farm in Canada almost immediately after meeting him.” Stiles's eyes widened. “I'm joking!” She sighed, then grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him. “You can do this.”

 

Stiles released the breath he was holding as he let Lydia pull him off of the bed.

 

* * *

 

“Yeah, traffic was terrible. Everyone was doing last minute Christmas shopping. On Christmas Eve! Who does that?”

 

Lydia and Stiles were coming down the hall, when they heard her father's story. Stiles gasped and stopped, tugging Lydia back.

 

“What?” she asked as she turned to face him.

 

“Christmas presents!” Stiles whispered harshly. “Did we bring Christmas presents?” Lydia didn't reply right away. “Did _I_ show up without Christmas presents for fake future in-laws?!”

 

Lydia groaned. “Don't worry. We'll uh...just say that we left them at my dorm. I mean, Mom and Grandma had to have realized that we didn't bring anything with us. I mean... otherwise they'd be under the tree now...right?”

 

Stiles shrugged spastically.

 

“Okay,” Lydia tried again. “New plan, I go shopping today and get stuff.”

 

“Great...now we've become the idiots your father was talking about.”

 

Stiles sighed, his nervousness now replaced by frustration, and walked ahead of her.

 

“Oh, Stiles!” Natalie announced when he entered the living room, Lydia close behind him. “Lydia! There you are.”

 

“Sorry,” Lydia replied. “Stiles was uh...helping me find my mascara.” Lydia smiled at her father. A smile, Stiles noticed, that didn't quite meet her eyes. Hell, it barely reached her lips. “Daddy.” She walked over to him and they embraced in an awkward hug. She pulled back and turned to face Stiles. “This is Stiles, my fiance.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Sir.” Stiles extended his hand to the older man.

 

Mr. Martin grabbed his hand in a firm shake. “What the hell kind of name is Stiles?”

 

“It's a nickname,” Stiles told him resolutely. Lydia was seeing a complete 180 from the Stiles who was practically curled up in a ball on her bed a few minutes ago.

 

“Why the hell would you introduce yourself to me using a nickname?”

 

“Jeff,” Lorraine began, a hint of warning to her voice. 

 

“No,” Stiles turned to Lorraine. “It's a fair question.” He turned back to Lydia's father. “I was named after my Polish grandfather on my mom's side. His name was Mieczyslaw, but I never really went by that. Stiles is a hell of a lot easier to pronounce. It's an old family nickname. It comes from my last name, Stilinski.”

 

“Mitchell-slow..”

 

“Mieczyslaw, dad.” Lydia replied, acting as if she knew all along even though this was her first time hearing it.

 

Stiles smirked smugly. “Just call me Stiles.”

 

Jeff Martin looked down at their hands. “You have a firm handshake,” he told Stiles. Neither of them had released the other's hand just yet.

 

“Thank you. I learned it from my father.”

 

Jeff finally cracked a smile and let Stiles's hand go. “We're going golfing today,” he finally announced. “Do you golf, Stiles?”

 

“I've...been a few times. I'm much better at baseball though.”

 

“Great...maybe I'll beat you then.”

 

Stiles gave a small laugh. “I uh...I don't have any Polos with me-”

 

“You can borrow one of mine.” The room turned to face Isaac. “I brought a couple.”

 

“Who are you?” Mr. Martin asked.

 

“Uh.. Isaac Lahey, sir. I'm your...ex wife's, step-daughter's boyfriend.”

 

Mr. Martin narrowed his eyes at Isaac for a moment. “You can come too.”

 

“What?” Lydia asked in shock.

 

“Oh, Lydia!” Malia began. “Maybe we can go and cheer them on!”

 

“Um..I actually had pla-”

 

“It's settled!” Jeff announced. “Everyone get ready, we're wheels up in 30.”

 

Stiles turned, wided-eyed to Lydia. “We're taking a plane?” he whispered.

 

“No...that's...just something he says.” Lydia sighed. “So much for last minute Christmas shopping.”

 

“Maybe you can find something at the Pro Shop?”

 

“Yeah...that won't be an obvious last-minute gift. I mean... I've always said, nothing says I love you like a golf glove and a box of balls.”

 

“I'm sensing sarcasm,” Stiles told her with fake suspicion.

 

“Oh really...” Lydia laughed and nudged him with her elbow.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm so sorry that this took so long to post. I struggled with a bit of the dialogue in this chapter and it took me awhile to get to a point where I was happy with it. The good news is, while I was waiting for it to be edited, I went on a writing kick with this fic, and I've got several chapters finished. My goal is to finish this before December...since that would mean it was almost a year since it had been published...actually I'd love to have it finished by the end of October, but uh... I guess we'll see how that goes!
> 
> **Possible trigger warning** There is a part near the end where sexual assault is spoken about briefly. There's little to no detail and the word "rape" is never even mentioned, but I'm just putting this out there, beacause if I don't, then I feel like it's going to be an issue for someone.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Come on, baby! You can do it!” Malia yelled and clapped as Isaac got up to the tee. She was seated next to Lydia in one of the two golf carts they'd rented.

 

The strawberry-blonde rolled her eyes before replying, “You're really not supposed to make loud noises like that. Golf is a quiet sport.”

 

“Well, that's boring.” Malia crossed her arms as she propped her feet up.

 

“Which is why I didn't want to go,” Lydia mumbled, before making eye contact with Stiles. He widened his eyes, as if silently telling her that he was also bored, but also that he was slightly amused by Malia's outburst.

 

Lydia cracked a smile and hid her face as she heard Malia give a small hum in the back of throat.

 

“What was that?” Lydia asked as she looked over to her step-sister.

 

“Oh nothing,” she began with a mischievous smile. “I'm just happy to see you happy.”

 

“Oh...” Lydia turned away and bit her lip. “Yeah. I am happy.”

 

 

 

“So,” Jeff began conversationally as Stiles stepped up to the tee, “how did it go when Lydia met your family?”

 

Even though Stiles wasn't a huge golfer, he still understood that Jeff was just trying to psych him out by starting a conversation right as he was teeing off.

 

He let out a nervous chuckle in an attempt to keep his mind on hitting the ball. “She's not going to meet them.” He brought the club back and it was coming back down when Stiles felt his whole body jerk backwards. The club nearly flew out of his hand as Jeff's hand grasped onto Stiles's shoulder and spun him around to face the older gentleman.

 

“What the hell, man?!” was Stiles's knee-jerk reaction to what had happened.

 

“Don't 'what the hell, man' me!”

 

“Dad...” Lydia said with a warning to her voice. She and Malia had to strain to hear the conversation up until then, but they had seen the entire thing play out in front of them. Lydia made a move to get out of the cart when her dad turned to her.

 

“Stay out of this, Lydia!” he snapped.

 

Over her father's shoulder, Stiles saw the anger flush in her cheeks, before the man turned back to him.

 

“I don't think you should talk to her like that,” Stiles said before he had a chance to process what he'd said out loud.

 

“And I don't think _you_ -” he emphasized the word by pushing Stiles's shoulder with one hand, making him stumble backwards to stay upright and eliciting a “Dad!” from Lydia, “should tell me how to talk to _my_ daughter! What do you mean she's not going to meet your family?!”

 

“I mean she's not meeting them. There's no way. They're-”

 

“What? Is my baby girl not good enough for them? Is she _too_ good for them? Are they intimidated by intelligent young girls? Are they _stupid_?”

 

“They're dead!” Stiles finally snapped. Mr. Martin's mouth clamped shut and Stiles took a couple of shaky steps backward. Then, as if realizing for the first time, he whispered, “I don't...I don't have anyone.” Stiles's world began to spin suddenly, and he brought his hand up to his chest. His breathing was becoming quicker and more shallow with every passing second. His eyes darted around for several seconds as if looking for something to focus on, before finally locking eyes with Lydia before his knees hit the ground.

 

Lydia was frozen for only a moment as her brain processed the panic in his eyes and the fear that engulfed her body, before registering that she needed to do something. She ran forward, kneeling down next to him.

 

“Stiles...hey...” she said softly, then looked back up at her father. He looked mortified, but that didn't stop Lydia's angry outburst. “Why couldn't you have just left it alone!”

 

“I'm-”

 

“Back up!” she yelled, and her father complied.

 

“Lydia,” Isaac began. “I think...is he having a heart attack?” Of course the nursing student would jump to the worst possible scenario.

 

“No, dumbass! He's having a panic attack!” Lydia yelled. She didn't explain why she knew the signs. “Stiles, I'm right here,” Lydia said calmly. “I'm not going anywhere.” She hadn't touched him. Some people don't like that, but then he reached his hands out and grasped onto her arms. “Shhh....” she said softly as she gently rubbed his biceps. When he lowered his hands to her waist, she moved her hands to his shoulders. “You're okay. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere.” She could still hear him struggling to breathe, and she wasn't sure how much she was actually helping, but he wasn't pushing her away.

 

She suddenly had an idea, and she wasn't sure if it would work or not, but at this point she was willing to try anything. Since it seemed the contact was helping him somewhat, she never removed herself from him as she sat up on her knees to where her chest was level with his head. She then cradled his head in her arms and positioned them just so, that his ear was against her chest, right where her heart was.

 

She focused on even breathing, even though he could probably hear her heart practically beating out of her chest. His grip around her tightened, and they sat like that for a long time as she heard and felt him begin to calm down. They sat like that until her knees began to ache, and they continued to sit there until after her knees went numb. She didn't move until she realized she was leaning more on him than he was on her, with their heads resting on the other's shoulder.

 

Lydia slowly pulled away to look him in the eye, but he averted his glance. He wiped his face that was wet with tears, and she lifted her hand to touch her cheek, feeling the moisture on them as well. She didn't even realize she had been crying.

 

Lydia stood up slowly, as she reminded herself they weren't alone and were still in the middle of a golf course.

 

Her head turned from Isaac, to Malia, to Stiles-who still wasn't looking at her as he stood- then to her father.

 

Her eyes narrowed, and she willed herself to shoot ice daggers at him...unfortunately that was not in her skill set, so instead, she spoke stoicly, “If it were up to me, you would be uninvited to Christmas dinner, because I don't think I can stand to look at you all day tomorrow.” She took a deep breath before continuing,”Since, it's not up to me though...I can only hope you don't act like a complete dick in front of the rest of the family. We're leaving.”

 

 

 

Lydia didn't speak to Stiles in the golf cart on the way back to the clubhouse. They stayed silent in the Uber that Lydia requested (technically Stiles should have paid according to their Secret Santa rules, but Lydia didn't care).

 

Neither of them said anything when they walked inside the house, even though Lorraine and Natalie were calling to them.

 

Lydia didn't know what to say to him. She wanted to ask him if he was okay, but what kind of question was that?

 

They'd both gone back to Lydia's room, and Stiles took off Isaac's shirt as he sat down on the bed. He still had a white undershirt on.

 

“I'm changing into comfier clothes.” Lydia said, mainly because she just needed to say _something_. She didn't get a reaction at all from Stiles though. She took her shirt off and tossed it where she'd kind of hoped he'd see it. “When I get finished, do you want to watch a movie?”

 

“You don't need to act like that.”

 

Lydia turned back to him, confused. “What do you mean? Act like what?”

 

“Like...there's something wrong with me...Like I'm broken.”

 

She slipped a T-shirt on as she walked over to him. “I don't think you're broken, Stiles.” She saw the way he was looking down and recalled the way she acted at the golf course. Maybe he thought she had babied him a little...like he couldn't take care of himself. “If I made you feel that way, I'm sorry,” she apologized sincerely. “I guess I got protective-”

 

“You don't even know me.” He finally met her eyes for the first time since his knees had hit the ground, and Lydia felt like she'd been punched in the gut.

 

“Well...maybe not, but-”

 

“No! This is all fake...you were sitting there telling me you weren't going anywhere, and maybe you just meant right then, but the fact of the matter is when we get back to school, we're probably never going to see each other again.”

 

“I thought...” Lydia felt her lips tremble. “I thought we were becoming friends.” Stiles looked down, and Lydia couldn't read his expression. “Well, I'm sorry I expected you to be anything more than what we agreed on. I guess that was my mistake.”

 

Stiles sighed as Lydia swung her door open, “Wait, Lydia-” The door closed and a few moments later he heard the slam of the bathroom door.

 

Lydia turned the faucets on in the shower, then leaned against the counter as she felt a sob escape her chest.

 

“I'm so stupid,” she mumbled to herself. It seemed like they were getting along, and that they'd had this...connection. She'd thought Stiles had felt it too, especially after today when she'd helped him calm down. When they calmed each other down. “I guess not,” she muttered out loud.

 

 

 

When she opened the bathroom, Stiles was standing right there in front of her.

 

“I'm sorry,” he blurted.

 

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked with an annoyed expression as she walked back to her room.

 

“I don't know,” he replied. He finally noticed her puffy face. “Were you crying?” he asked. “Is that why you turned the shower on? It obviously wasn't to take a shower.”

 

“Why does it matter? We're not friends.”

 

Stiles groaned. “I'm sorry, it's been a long day. I'm just...embarrassed, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry.”

 

Lydia shook her head. “You shouldn't be embarrassed. Panic attacks happen. Sometimes with no rhyme or reason. It's nothing to feel ashamed or embarrassed about.”

 

Stiles nodded slowly. “So...are we good?”

 

Lydia released a sigh. “You hurt my feelings, Stiles. Just...give me some time.”

 

“Dinner!” they heard Lorraine's voice.

 

“Fine,” Stiles grumbled before walking out of the room, Lydia on his heels.

 

 

Dinner was relatively quiet. Malia and Isaac didn't seem to be talking to one another, and they weren't talking to Lydia or Stiles either. Lydia and Stiles were back to not speaking to each other, so the only ones trying to start a conversation were Natalie, Lorraine, and Henry, and the kids weren't giving them much to work with.

 

When they got ready for bed, Lydia and Stiles were still not communicating, and when they laid down, it was on their sides facing away from each other.

 

A few minutes went by before Lydia reached her hand back without looking and put it on top of Stiles's and a moment later, he took it.

 

“How did you know it was a panic attack?” he asked her.

 

Lydia bit her lip. “I've had them before.”

 

Stiles was quiet for a moment before speaking again. “You know... I wasn't lying when I said you didn't know me.”

 

“Yeah...I know.... you don't know me either.”

 

“Yeah...but I know a lot more about you than you know about me.” Lydia didn't reply. She wasn't sure where he was going with this. “You've asked me a lot of questions...I....I want to try to answer them.” He took a deep breath before beginning. “My dad's name was Noah. He died the day after Christmas last year.”

 

Lydia gulped, but didn't say anything and waited for him to continue.

 

“My mom died when I was nine and Dad never remarried. I was scared that I was going to be alone like he was, and proposed to my girlfriend, Katy, in January. We were with Scott and his phone was the only one with enough battery and enough space to take pictures, so Katy took it..snapped a bunch of selfies and texted them to herself so she could post them on social media.” He sighed. “Our engagement lasted a total of 8 weeks before she realized I didn't propose because I loved her, and she broke up with me.” He scoffed. “I hadn't had a chance to tell Scott, who just so happened to be going through his phone and came across the engagement pictures and sent them to me. I wasn't lying when I told you that either. I don't know why I saved them. Maybe because I didn't have any other pictures from that night...I just wanted it to be real that even though we weren't together, there was a time where I almost had someone.” He was quiet for a while. “This is my first Christmas without him. If I went home it would just be Scott and his mom...who would just feel sorry for me and remind me every moment of everyday how much I miss him. I didn't want that... I don't. But I couldn't be alone either." He took a deep breath before continuing, "That's why I'm here. That's why I went along with it... and I'm glad I did.”

 

Lydia remained quiet for a moment, and Stiles was concerned she'd fallen asleep.

 

“I was...” she finally started, but trailed off for a moment before continuing. “I was at a frat party a couple of years ago. I only had one drink because I knew that I had a big test the next day.” Lydia stopped speaking for a moment, but Stiles stayed silent, giving her the same benefit she gave him. “I don't remember much about that night. But when I woke up, I felt hungover and-” she stopped talking again and Stiles ran a thumb across the back of her hand reassuringly. “It was obvious someone had slipped something into my drink, and I....I didn't know what to do. I was too...embarrassed to admit what had actually happened. So... when I took Allison with me to get Plan B, I told her her I'd had a one night stand. At first I'd have panic attacks about it, but after awhile I almost start believing the one night stand story myself...at least until I'm getting intimate with someone and something triggers a memory of that night and I start feeling nauseous and-” Stiles gave her hand a light squeeze. “You're the only one I've told.” She rolled over to face him and, at the shifting of her weight on the bed, he turned to face her. “Why do I feel like I can tell you this kind of thing when I barely know you? I couldn't even tell Allison.”

 

Stiles gazed at her, “I don't know. I guess for the same reason I trusted you through my panic attack earlier.”

 

“And what's that?”

 

Stiles shrugged. “Maybe we have a connection...unspoken of course.”

 

Lydia laughed, “Except we're speaking about it, so...”

 

Stiles waved a hand in front of his face. “Details.”

 

Lydia smiled and slowly leaned forward to press her lips to his in a soft kiss.

 

“Merry Christmas, Stiles,” she told him as she pulled away.

 

“Merry Christmas, Lydia.”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again and thank you so much for sticking with this story! My goal is to finish it this month, and there are several chapters already written, I just have to post them. I'll admit, I AM struggling with the ending- going back and forth between two or three- but hopefully if I set a goal, my brain will finally decide what the best option is. Enjoy!

“Aunt Lydia!”

Lydia barely heard the tiny voices break through her sleep.

“Livvy, Jake, get out of there!” she heard a harsh whisper.

“Mommy, she’s got a boy in her-“ The voice was fading out until Lydia finally heard the click of the door closing.

Lydia huffed. She would never be able to go back to sleep now. When she opened her eyes, she was caught off guard for a moment with how close her face was to Stiles's. She hadn't realized it the night before.

Lydia studied his features, and her eyes caught a stray lash on his cheek. She couldn’t stop herself from reaching up and wiping the top of his cheek with her thumb.

Stiles’s eyes fluttered open.

“You had an eyelash,” Lydia told him.

He let out a small chuckle. “Thanks.” He closed his eyes again for a moment, but they popped back open. “Did I hear children a little bit ago?”

Lydia smiled. “My step-brother’s kids, Olivia and Jacob. Livvy is six and Jake is three.”

“This is the step-brother on your dad’s side, right? Derek?”

“Yeah, that’s right, and his wife is Braeden.”

“Right.” He sighed, mainly because he still didn’t feel like getting up. “Can I ask you a weird question?”

“Uh… I guess?”

Stiles laughed before continuing, “Why does your mom live with your grandma? When we were making dinner the other night, she mentioned that her son was your dad.”

“Yeah… I guess her and my mom just really got along. My mom lost her mother young … so when she was introduced to my grandmother, they sort of adopted each other as their own. And then, it was my dad that cheated on my mom, so Grandma took Mom’s side in the divorce. To be honest…it sounds bad, but I feel like she barely tolerates my dad.” Stiles gave her a small smile. “Speaking of my dad... are we talking to him or avoiding him?”

His brow creased. “What do you mean?”

“Well...I mean... he was a jerk yesterday and as your fiancee I need to back you up on whatever you decide.”

“I'm not one to hold grudges, unless you give me a reason. As long as he's nice to me, I'm going to be nice to him.”

“Damn... I was hoping we wouldn't have to talk to him,” she said, then smiled.

“No...” he chuckled. “But if he's rude again today, then we can hold a grudge.” Stiles noticed the glint in her eye. “And don't provoke him either. It's Christmas, Lydia.”

“What? I would nev-” Stiles gave her a look and she stopped. “Okay... yeah...maybe I would have.”

 

* * *

 

“Merry Christmas!” Lydia announced as she entered the living room.

“Aunt Lydia!” the two children ran up to the strawberry blonde.

“Oh my gosh! Look how big you guys are!”

“Hey, I'm Derek.” The guy that Stiles hadn't met yet, extended his hand.

“Oh, uh..Stiles,” he said as he shook it. “I'm Lydia's-”

“Fiance!” the girl, who had to be Braeden, said excitedly. “We know. We heard. Congratulations!” Braeden lunged for Lydia's hand.

“Oh!” Lydia moved her hand away. “You don't want to see that. The real ring is at the jewelers. They didn't get back to us in time. This one is...” Lydia trailed off then turned to Stiles. “Babe, how about you show the-”

“Already on it,” Stiles said as he was scrolling through the pictures on his phone. When he finally landed on the right picture he flipped the phone around to show them.

“Oh my God! That's beautiful!” Braeden exclaimed.

“I know right!” Lydia immediately agreed, which got a chuckle out of Stiles.

“Stiles!” Lorraine called. Stiles looked up and made eye contact with Lydia's grandmother, who was beckoning him to come over. “Come on! Remember, I told you you were helping with dinner.”

“Right,” he said as he recalled the conversation, then turned back to the group of people. “Sorry, duty calls.”

 

* * *

 

When someone knocked on the door half an hour later, Natalie went to answer it and came back with Lydia's father and step-mother.

“Dad...” Lydia said slowly as a greeting, then turned to her step-mother, smiling brightly. “Hi, Talia!” Lydia greeted her as she stepped over to give her a hug.

“Hey, Lydia! Merry Christmas. And congratulations!”

“Thanks! That's my fiance, Stiles,” Lydia pointed into the kitchen from her

“Hi! Nice to meet you,” Stiles said from the kitchen. “I'd shake your hand but I'm kind of..um..” he looked down at his arm shoved into the turkey.

Talia waved her hand.“Say no more,” she replied then turned back to Lydia. “Let me see your ring!”

“Uhh...” Lydia looked over at Stiles.

He sighed. “Phone's in my pocket. Come get it.”

“Yeah, go get it, Lydia,” Malia teased and Isaac laughed.

“I bet you wish you were that turkey right now,” Isaac said, still laughing, but then everyone gave him a look. Some because of the poor taste in jokes with present company, some because it just wasn't funny.

“Why would you say that?” Malia asked, appalled. “Do you see how far his hand is up that turkey's ass?”

“Malia!” Lydia scolded. When Malia looked up confused, Lydia motioned her eyes toward the kids. “Oh...”

Lydia lifted the phone from his back pocket, but her eyes lingered on the turkey, Isaac's obscene joke worming its way back into her thoughts.

“Lydia?” Stiles's voice cut through, and she quickly shifted her gaze to his face. Smirking lightly, he looked toward Talia. “You were going to show-”

“Right!”

 

* * *

 

Once the turkey was in the oven (it would take the longest to make) they decided it was time to open presents. Lydia explained to her family that the presents got left in her dorm, and they would be sent after she got back to school. Of course that really meant she had to go shopping as soon as possible when she got back...unless she could stealthily get a few things here over the next couple of days without anyone seeing what she got, otherwise it'd be obvious she'd forgotten.

Everyone seemed understanding enough.

Lydia's family had gotten Stiles a few gift cards, which he only felt slightly bad about, seeing as how he wasn't the future son-in-law everyone thought he was.

He and Lydia were given a gift to open together, a Couples Board Game, which someone suggested they play after dinner.

 

* * *

 

“Uncle Stiles can you pass the potatoes?” Livvy asked.

Stiles's eyes widened and he looked over at Lydia. “Um...what?”

“Sorry,” Braeden said as she attempted to hide her mouth as she chewed. When she finally swallowed, she continued. “We told them that once you guys got married,” she looked over at her daughter, “that you would be her uncle.”

“Oh...right.” Stiles picked up the potatoes to pass them over to Olivia. “You know...it's fine. You can call me that if you want.”

Livvy smiled happily, and Braeden locked eyes with Lydia, giving her a 'he's a keeper' look.

“Stiles,” Talia began, “this turkey is amazing.”

“And he's never cooked one!” Lorraine yelled. “I don't believe it! I think he's lying.”

“Please...” Stiles blushed. “I just did what you told me to do.”

“Did you?” Lorraine smiled, but Lydia saw something more. She turned to look at Stiles, who seemed like he was nervous about something for a moment, before chuckling lightly and going back to his food.

“So, when's the wedding?” Braeden asked.

Lydia promptly choked on the wine she had just taken a sip of.

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked her with genuine concern.

She nodded and coughed a few times. “Yeah, sorry. It went down the wrong way.” Lydia dabbed her mouth with a napkin before continuing, “We actually haven't set a date yet.”

“We both want to finish school first,” Stiles supplied. “We're thinking with our heads too, not just with our hearts.” Stiles smiled down at Lydia and she turned to him.

“That's right,” she agreed before kissing him.

“Ew!” Livvy and Jake chorused.

Lydia pulled away smiling and biting her lip as she felt a blush creep into her cheeks. “Sorry,” she apologized.

“You two are so adorable it's disgusting,” Braeden told them, before locking eyes with her husband.

Lydia remembered when Derek and Braeden got together. She thought their romance was the epitome of true love and always said to herself, 'find someone who looks at you the way Derek looks at Braeden.' She turned back to Stiles to see him sneak a glance at her in a very familiar way, and in one instant realized she finally had found that someone.

But in the second instant, she realized she really hadn't, and that hit her like a punch to the gut. Stiles was just a good guy, looking for a way out of a depressing visit home. He was going along with everything she said and putting on such a great show that she was started to believe it too.

She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes, and a moment later, she felt Stiles's arm around her shoulders and his hot breath on her ear, “Hey, are you okay?”

He's just a good a guy, she told herself, which somehow made her feel worse.

“Excuse me,” she announced quickly and quietly before getting up from the table.

“She had to go to the bathroom,” she overheard Stiles telling her family as she was opening the bathroom door.

“Of course,” she mumbled to herself. Of course he would cover for her and know where she was going before she had even figured it out herself.

As she leaned over the sink she recalled how she had just done this yesterday after their fight. Except this time, it wasn't his fault.

Lydia heaved a frustrated sigh. Why did she have to be like this? It hit her all of a sudden that she was being irrational. She'd never even asked Stiles if he felt the same way. She was getting all worked up over nothing.

Well, maybe it wasn't nothing.

Wanting something like that so much and having it just out of reach was enough to make anybody go crazy.

“You have plenty of time, Lydia,” she mumbled to herself. She flushed the toilet and splashed water on her face and checked herself one last time in the mirror.

“Is everything okay?” Stiles whispered to her when she got back to the table.

She smiled. “Everything's perfect.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Do you think we can avoid playing this couples' game?” Stiles whispered to Lydia after they had volunteered to do the dishes.

 

“Probably not. Everyone else seemed really excited about it.”

 

Stiles groaned as he dried the plate that Lydia had just washed.

 

“What if we miss stupid questions... like ones that any couple for any amount of time should know?”

 

Lydia shrugged, “Then we'll have a fake fight, and fake make-up sex, and say that getting married will give us plenty of time to learn all those things about each other.”

 

He nodded, “Okay...so...about the make-up sex..”

 

She nudged him with her elbow and they both chuckled.

 

 

* * *

 

The time finally came to play. Lorraine volunteered as the host and judge while Jeff and Talia, Natalie and Henry, Derek and Braeden, Malia and Isaac, and Lydia and Stiles divided into their couple teams. They'd sent Jake and Livvy to the other room to watch a movie.

 

“So, Jeff and Talia would seem to have the advantage since they've known each other the longest-”

 

“Actually,” Lydia corrected her grandmother, “Malia and Isaac have known each other the longest...Dad and Talia have only been a couple the longest.”

 

“ _Touche_ ,” Lorraine smiled as she drew a card. “Does everyone have a board and a marker?” The players nodded affirmatively. “Alright, there are a couple of ways to play according to the rules, but the way we're playing is everybody gets asked the same questions, and you all move at the same time. We'll alternate who's answering, so couples, choose your order.”

 

Stiles looked at Lydia. “I'll answer first if you want me to. Go ahead and get the first one over with.”

 

“Fine with me.”

 

“Everyone ready?” Lorraine asked. “Alright, for the first question, everybody close your eyes.” The couples did as they were told. “Now, if you're answering the question, open them.”

 

Stiles opened his eyes and looked around to see who else was answering this round. He was thankful that Talia was the one with her eyes open instead of Jeff, then saw Braeden, Isaac, and Henry with their eyes open as well.

 

“Question number one, _What are the color of your partner's eyes?”_

 

Stiles smiled softly as he thought about the night before when he'd looked into Lydia's eyes, their faces so close together.

 

_Green,_ he wrote.

 

He, of course, was right.

 

“I can't believe you said blue!” Malia screeched. “My eyes are brown! What would make you say _blue_?!”

 

“Well, everyone moves a space except for Malia and Isaac.”

 

Malia huffed and crossed her arms.

 

“Next question, _Where was your first kiss as a couple?”_

 

Lydia took a deep breath. They never included their first kiss as part of their cover story. Lydia decided to go with her and Stiles's actual first kiss.

 

“Uh...”Stiles faltered when it came time for him to answer the question. “On a plane.”

 

Lydia quickly flipped her card around. “A plane!” she yelped excitedly before kissing him quickly.

 

“A plane? Where did you guys go?” Henry asked the fake couple.

 

“Umm...school trip,” Stiles mumbled then cleared his throat. “Next question?”

 

“Alright,” Lorraine began as she took another card and read aloud. “ _How many kids does your partner want to have?_ ”

 

Shit. They'd never talked about this either. Well...they talked about it as in “What do we say if they ask us when we're having kids? We tell them we're going to wait to talk about it until after we graduate.” Lydia didn't seem like she wanted a large family. Stiles wrote down:  _on_ _e or two._

 

“Alright, Lydia,” Lorraine said after everyone else had gone. “How many kids do you want?”

 

“God...I don't know. One...maybe two?” Stiles confidently flipped his board over and Lydia's eyes widened. “Oh my God! I didn't even know the answer to that!”

 

“That is a man who knows his lady,” Braeden smiled cheekily.

 

“Next question, _Who is your partner's hero?_ ”

  
Lydia wrote down her answer without much thought, but then wondered if she'd misunderstood the question when Derek said his hero was Superman, and Braeden had gotten it right.

 

“Uh...” Stiles began a little nervously. “My answer is a little bit different from everybody else's but... I'd say my hero is my dad.”

 

Lydia let out a gasp of air as she looked at her answer.

 

“Lydia? What did you say?” Lorraine asked.

 

“It's fine if you didn't get it. It-” Lydia cut Stiles off by turning her board around. _His dad_ was written clearly.

 

“Well, that officially puts Lydia and Stiles in the lead.”

 

Stiles was staring awe-struck at her and neither of them heard the next question.

 

“Stiles!” they finally heard Malia's voice break through their inner thoughts. “Where was your first date?”

 

“What?”

 

“That's the next question,” Talia said with a light chuckle.

 

“Oh...sorry.” This was a question they had gone over, and he felt like he was cheating when he wrote the answer.

 

“We saw a movie,” Lydia told the crowd.

 

_Movies_ was written on Stiles's board.

 

“What was the movie?” Derek asked.

 

Stiles chuckled lightly as he looked over at Lydia. “I don't really remember the movie. I was took busy watching her the whole night.”

 

He repeated the line that Lydia had liked so much, and elicited several “awes” from the women in the group.

 

Lorraine drew another card. “Okay, next question, _What was the name of your partner's previous partner?”_

 

“ _Katy_ ,” Lydia had correctly written thanks to their conversation the night before.

 

“Okay...” Lorraine began, “I'm beginning to sense some tension in the room.”

 

“You're _just now_ beginning to sense it?” Malia asked grumpily. “Isaac has missed every single question. Brown, dufus! My eyes are brown!”

 

“I'm sorry!”

 

“As I was saying...” Lorraine continued awkwardly, “Lydia and Stiles are in the lead, but Talia and Jeff are only down by one.” Jeff had mistakenly said that Debbie Reynolds was his wife's hero when that honor actually belonged to Sandra Day O'Connor. “So, if Stiles and Lydia get this one right, they'll win. If they get it wrong we'll go into a sudden death round between them and Jeff and Talia. Are you ready?”

 

Stiles and Lydia exchanged glances before nodding.

 

“Alright. The question, for the win... _Who said 'I love you' first?_ ”

 

Stiles was looking at his board when his eyes widened. This should have been an easy one...if they were an actual couple. Stiles finally decided to answer _Me_. He sensed that Lydia was more guarded with her feelings, and he _was_ the guy that proposed to his ex-girlfriend so that he wouldn't end up alone. He would definitely be the one to say _I love you_ first.”

 

“Okay, Lydia? Who said 'I love you' first?”

 

“Well..” Lydia took a deep breath before looking at him. “I'm pretty sure I thought it first, but he definitely said it before me.”

 

Stiles's face broke out in a huge grin as he impulsively grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to him, crashing his lips into hers. He then lifted the board in front of them to block the view, but also to show the answer he'd written was the same as what she said.

 

When they finally broke the kiss, Lydia bit her lip playfully. “I guess we won.”

 

“Well...I certainly did.”

 

* * *

 

 

“So...” Lydia started as they began to get ready for bed. “Christmas with my family...”

 

“It could have been worse,” Stiles shrugged as he took his shirt off.

 

“I'm glad you think so,” she replied while trying to reach for the zipper on the back of her dress.

 

“Oh, come on!” Stiles said jokingly as he walked over to assist her with the zipper.

 

“No, you're right,” she told him as she turned around and began to slip her dress off. “It definitely could have been worse. We could have gotten all the questions wrong and had to have make up-sex.” They both smiled, completely oblivious to the fact that they were now only half-dressed.

 

Until they heard Malia's scream, “Oh God!!”

 

Stiles closed his eyes and groaned,“Not again.” He grabbed a new shirt and pulled it over his head.

 

Lydia sighed as she began to rummage through her drawers. “You know... I don't remember the last time I enjoyed sex as much as Malia seems to. Actually...I don't think I ever enjoyed it as much as she does.”

 

Stiles chuckled as he unbuttoned his jeans, then told her, “Maybe it's because it's not with the right person.”

 

Lydia nodded as she pulled out a tank top and a pair of pajama shorts. “I can't argue with that theory. To be honest... I haven't really wanted to have sex since that night at the party.” She turned away from him to unhook her bra, and Stiles quickly averted his eyes when he realized that's what she was doing. “I did it like twice with my ex, but only because I felt bad for always stopping him.” She slipped the tank top on, then her shorts before turning around to face him again.

 

Stiles shook his head. “That's not right. He shouldn't have made you feel bad for not doing something you weren't comfortable with doing.”

 

“I'm sure it wouldn't have been that way if I'd told him the reason.”

 

“It doesn't matter.”

 

Lydia stared at him for a moment, her brain catching up to what had transpired over the past few minutes.

 

“That seemed...oddly routine,” she told him.

 

“It did, didn't it?”

 

Lydia looked away after a moment and went to lay down. “Do you mind getting the light?”

 

“Sure,” Stiles replied, then turned the light off and went to climb into the bed next to her. They lay there for a few minutes before Stiles finally said, “Hey, Lydia?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“What really happened at dinner?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I mean, you got really upset and then you came back and put on a fake smile. I guess...after a few minutes it turned real again, but something wasn't right. Did I say something or-”

 

“No!” Lydia told him quickly and turned to face him. “It wasn't you. It was me...” Lydia let out a chuckle, “which sounds like a bad breakup line, but...I just kind of worked myself up over something stupid.”

 

Stiles reached over to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Lydia stared for a while, not saying yes or no or making any affirmative or negative actions. The first thing out of her mouth was, “We made a really great team today...didn't we?”

 

Stiles nodded softly. “Yeah, we did.”

 

“There were moments today where I had this thought that...somehow you seem to know me better than I know myself.”

 

“You think?”

 

Lydia nodded wordlessly. “I want what Braeden and Derek have...the love that just like seeps out of every orifice when they look at each other or talk about each other. I just had a moment today where I thought...maybe I'll never have that.”

 

“I'm sure you will. After all the shitty stuff that's happened to you, you deserve to be happy.”

 

“Stiles...” Lydia said after several moments of silence.

 

“Yeah?”

 

 

She didn't say anything. In a rush, she closed the gap between them.

 

The moment their lips touched, Lydia was transported to another world. A world where time stopped and everything became so clear. In this world, she could solve the Reimann Hypothesis and understand every language in existence. It was as if everything suddenly clicked into place and with shuddering realization it occurred to her that every language in existence was telling her the same thing: she was falling in love with him.

 

She gasped and abruptly pulled away.

 

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked her with concern.

 

“Yeah...sorry...I just...I thought for a second I forgot to turn the oven off...but I remember that I did...so...it's fine...”

 

“Are you sure? Do you want to go check?”

 

“No, It's all good.”

 

“Well, now _I'm_ freaked out, so I'm going to go check.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Stiles gave her a confused looked as he got back out of the bed and went to the door.

 

The moment Stiles was out of the room, Lydia began the internal dialogue with herself.

 

“What are you thinking? You can't be falling in love with him. You don't even know him!”

 

“But he knows me, and I kind of feel like I've known him for forever. That has to count for something, right?”

 

“Who says he would even feel the same way?”

 

“He has to feel _something_ , right? There's no way that this is just one-sided.”

 

“ _Something_ doesn't mean _love_. Maybe it's just lust.”

 

“Stiles doesn't seem like the type of guy who just wants to get in my pants.”

 

“Oh please! He's a GUY! Of course he just wants to get in your pants.”

 

“No, but he's really nice, and considerate, and he hangs out with my grandma.”

 

“Oh crap...you're really serious about this aren't you?”

 

“Is that so bad? There are worse guys that I could feel this way about.”

 

Her inner-thoughts were interrupted when Stiles came back, “You were right, but it didn't hurt to double check.”

 

“Hey,” she began as he climbed back into bed. “Do you remember the other night when we fell asleep, and we...cuddled?”

 

“Yeah....” he agreed hesitantly.

 

“That was...nice. I can't remember the last time anyone held me like that. It....it made me feel safe.”

 

Stiles cracked a smile. “Is this your way of saying that you want to cuddle again?”

 

“No...” Lydia told him, but felt herself blush. (Great! She blushes now!)

 

He let out a chuckle, and held his arms out. “Come here.”

 

Lydia bit her lip, to stop herself from smiling too over-eagerly, before snuggling up to him. He squeezed her tightly as if giving her hug, but he never released the tension in his arms. It made her feel loved, even if she wasn't sure how he felt yet.

 

“Stiles...”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Remember what you said before... about how I deserve to be happy?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

She suddenly couldn't say what she wanted to, so instead she just said, “Thank you.”

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Lydia's eyes opened slowly, bracing herself for the harsh light that was seeping through her window.

 

 

Somehow, they had moved during the night into more of a spooning position (she was the little spoon of course). His arm still wrapped around her, holding her closely to him. Legs still tangled up in each other and her fingers were intertwined in his. She immediately wanted to go right back to sleep, until she recognized the reason she had woken up to begin with when her phone vibrated against her nightstand

 

She begrudgingly pulled one of her hands free and reached over to grab the phone. She had four texts from Allison.

 

_Guess who got some time away from her family and is on her way to see you right now!_

 

It was followed by two 'thumbs up' emojis, then _Are you awake?_ And finally a fourth, _Lydia?_

 

Lydia looked at the time the first text from Allison was sent, compared to the time it was now.

 

“Shit!”

 

Stiles groaned next to her and pulled her closer, but didn’t wake up.

 

Lydia groaned. She wanted to cuddle back up to Stiles and go back to sleep, but she needed to call Allison. If she showed up before Lydia spoke to her, she could blow their cover. And then all of this would have been for nothing.

 

She tried to get up again, but to no avail, so she hit call and stuck her phone to her ear.

 

“Hello, bestest friend!” Allison answered cheerily. Lydia could hear the noise in the background that meant Allison was still driving.

 

“Hey,” Lydia whispered. “Where are you?”

 

“What?”

 

Lydia sighed and tried to speak louder, while still keeping her voice soft. “Where are you?”

 

“I’m like ten minutes away. Why are you whispering?”

 

“Because I just woke up, and Stiles is still asleep.”

 

“Who?”

 

Lydia rolled her eyes. “Stiles. My fiancé. His name is Stiles.”

 

“Oh...You mean your _fake_ fiancé.”

 

“Yeah…sure.”

 

“Wait…is he sleeping in your room?”

 

Lydia looked down at his arms around her. “We’re committed.”

 

“How committed?”

 

“Allison.”

 

“Fine. Well wake up him up. I’ll be there in five.”

 

“You just said you were ten minutes away.”

 

“Well, now I’m going faster so I’ll be there sooner.”

 

Lydia sighed. “Fine. Just remember… you would have met him, so act like you know him.”

 

“Right…what’s his name again?”

 

“Stiles!” she yelled louder than she meant to.

 

“Huh?” Stiles jerked awake, his instinct was to pull her closer, eliciting an “oof,” sound from Lydia.

 

Allison was laughing and Lydia hung up the phone. “Sorry,” she told him and turned her head to face him. “I didn’t mean to wake you up, but Allison is on her way here.”

 

“Does that mean we need to get up?” he mumbled.

 

“Unfortunately, yes.”

 

Stiles released her and stretched, as Lydia sat up and adjusted the strap on her tank top that had slipped down her shoulder.

 

 

* * *

 

“Hey!” Lydia said cheerily as she walked into the living room.

 

“Hey,” Allison replied as she stood up from the couch. “Where’s the fiancé?”

 

“He’s finishing getting ready.”

 

“I’m right her-oh... hey, Allison.” Lydia saw the look on his face, and quickly looked back at Allison as she felt an awkward tension.

 

“Hey…”

 

“Okay…well let’s go!” Lydia turned to walk away but Stiles grabbed her wrist and kept her back. “What?”

 

“Um...” he whispered. “You know, if you and Allison want to go hang out by yourselves, then I’m okay with that. I’ll just stay here with Isaac and Malia.”

 

“And be a third wheel? Are you kidding? No, I want you with me.”

 

Stiles looked up at Allison again before returning his gaze to Lydia. “Are you sure you don’t want it to just be the two of you?”

 

“Stiles, what’s going on?”

 

He glanced back at Allison, and Lydia turned her head to see if Allison was giving off the same vibe he was. If he wasn’t already speaking low enough, Lydia could barely make out the next words out of his mouth, “Allison’s Katy’s roommate.”

 

Lydia blinked a couple of times. “Oh my God…” Stiles nodded and Lydia grabbed his hands and pulled him around so that she was now facing Allison. “Oh my God!” She repeated. “You’re Katelyn’s dick ex?”

 

Stiles rolled his eyes and nodded, “Allison and I never got along.”

 

“Never got along? She  _hates_  you!”

 

“Yeah...well...the feeling is somewhat mutual.”

 

“Are we going to leave, or…” Allison asked impatiently.

 

Stiles turned his head to look at her, then went back to Lydia. “Go,” he whispered. “You’ll have more fun without me.”

 

“But I-“ Lydia looked back into Stiles’s eyes. “Okay.” She glanced sideways to see her grandmother and mother looking their direction, so she went up on her tiptoes to kiss him, putting a hand on the back of his head to pull him down to her and smiling when she heard Allison make a noise of disgust.

 

“You’re aware you just pissed her off, right?” Stiles said as he pulled away and looked back at Lydia.

 

“Eh…she’ll get over it.” She smiled then walked towards Allison. “See you later!” She linked her arm with the brunette and the two of them walked outside.

 

Stiles took a deep breath just as Malia and Isaac walked into the room.

 

“Did Lydia just leave?” Malia asked.

 

“Uh...yeah.. Her friend Allison came by, so...I guess it's just the three of us.”

 

“Well, we're actually headed to brunch,” Isaac began, “but you're more than welcome to join us.”

 

Stiles tried to adjust the expression on his face so that it didn't look like his soul had just died inside of him, but apparently he wasn't that great at hiding his emotions.

 

“Stiles,” Lorraine said with a hint of a smile, pretending she hadn't heard anything. “Are you ready to show me that thing on the computer?”

 

“Wh-Oh! Yes! Definitely! Uh, have fun at brunch, guys.”

 

“Oh, we will,” Isaac winked before he and Malia headed out the door.

 

Stiles released a huge sigh. “Thank you for saving me,” he chuckled as he walked over to the kitchen bar.

 

Lorraine shrugged, “I don't know what you're talking about.” She said it with such seriousness, and for a moment Stiles almost believed her. Until she glanced up at him and winked.

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

Lydia walked into her room and saw Stiles's sleeping form on the bed still in his clothes from earlier. She bit her lip and smiled before plopping herself down onto the bed. Stiles flinched as he opened his eyes and sleepily looked around to see what had caused the minor earthquake.

 

“Oh... hey,” he said before closing his eyes again. “How was your day with Allison?”

 

“It was fine. She avoided bringing you up at all costs.”

 

“That sounds like Allison.”

 

“What the hell happened?”

 

Stiles groaned. “A series of unfortunate events.” He opened his eyes again to begin his story, “It started with this party Katy and I went to. We both got plastered and she brought me back to their room. We woke Allison up and she had a big test the next day. Then I accidentally walked in on her in the shower-”

 

“Oh my God! That was you!” Lydia exclaimed, laughing.

 

“I thought she was Katy!” Stiles tried defending himself. “From then on, I couldn't do anything right. I was annoying, too loud, made the dorm smell like burnt milk, kept her roommate out too long so she'd get back at all hours of the night. I tried to be better, but it was too late. She'd already decided she didn't like me.”

 

“Well, I like you,” she giggled playfully, not purposefully putting any deeper meaning behind the words.

 

“Still? Even after you found out what a pervy asshole I am?” he smirked.

 

In a much more serious tone she replied, “I think you're the furthest thing from a pervy asshole. You're kind, gentlemanly... and not just with me. With my grandmother too.” Lydia looked down at his hands that he had resting on his stomach and she placed one of her hands on top of his. “I'm really glad you were my Secret Santa.”

 

Stiles lifted his other hand and carefully intertwined their fingers. “I'm glad I was too.” Lydia bit her lip guiltily and made a high pitched hum in the back of her throat. “What?” Stiles asked as he raised an eyebrow. “What was that?”

 

“I don't know if you'll still feel the same way when I tell you we're going to a club with Malia, Isaac, and Allison tonight.”

 

“What?” His face fell.

 

“I got tricked into it, and you can't let me go alone. No guy in his right mind would let his girlfriend-much less fiance- go to a club alone.”

 

Stiles groaned. “You realize you just ruined a really nice moment with really disgusting news, right?”

 

“We've got like an hour to get ready. We're all taking Malia's car,” Lydia said as she sat up.

 

“When was all of this decided?”

 

“While you were taking a nap.”

 

“That'll teach me to go to sleep around you guys.”

  

* * *

 

 

“You're being boring!” Allison announced as she seated herself next to the “couple” at the bar.

 

“And that's my cue," Stiles sighed and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom.”  He didn't like clubs, but the good news was neither did Lydia, so they were both perfectly content with sitting at the bar and people-watching.

 

Allison made a noise of disgust as he walked away and rolled her eyes. "You're welcome."

 

Lydia cocked her head. "For what?"

 

"I just saved your night!"

 

"My night didn't need saving. I'm fine just sitting at the bar and talking. You know I don't really like clubs. I just wanted to get out of the house."

 

"You  _used_ to like clubs."

 

"Yeah...back when it was illegal for us to be in one."

 

"Lydia, you're my best friend. I wouldn't be fulfilling my duties as best friend if I let you turn into a boring people-watcher." Lydia sighed. "Okay, fine. At least take some selfies with me to make you look like you're a lot cooler than you actually are so I can put them on your dating profile that I'm making you."

 

Lydia laughed. "I'll take the selfies, but you are  _not_ making a dating profile."

* * *

 

This day hadn't been the most exciting by any means. Stiles had baked brownies with Lydia's grandma, and watched the last 45 minutes of _Return of the Jedi_ that he just so happened to catch while flipping through channels. Then Lorraine brought out the photo albums, and Stiles found himself genuinely interested in what Lorraine was telling him about Lydia. He wanted to know everything, and he couldn't wait to get back to the bar so that he could continue talking to her.

 

As he neared them, he was entranced by her smile as she and Allison took pictures. He could stare at her all day... that was until he caught a strange movement out of the corner of vision. There was a guy awkwardly leaning against the bar and looking over his shoulder. His hand slipped into his pocket and then quickly emerged again. He adjusted his stance ever so slightly, but it gave Stiles clear line of vision to Lydia's drink and the man's sneaky hands.

 

Anger boiled inside of him, and he stepped quickly and more purposeful.

 

Lydia turned to reach for the drink, but Stiles put his hand on top of it.

 

She jumped and looked up, “Oh! It's you...what...what are you doing?”

 

Stiles clenched his jaw and Lydia looked sincerely worried. The guy in question tried to stealthily sneak away but Stiles grabbed the back of his shirt and spun him around.

 

“Dude, what the fuck?!” the guy yelled.

 

Stiles put on an eerily calm expression before picking up the drink and handing it to him.

 

“You see... I bought this drink for my fiance, but I really want you to have it.”

 

The guy nervously looked down at the drink and then shook his head, “Uh...no thanks.”

 

“Drink it. I insist.”

 

“Stiles?” Lydia said his name with a hint of fear to her voice.

 

The guy shook his head again. “No...uh...I-I'm good.”

 

Stiles nodded slowly, and gently placed the drink down. “That's what I thought.”

 

“What do-”

 

Stiles didn't allow him to finish his sentence. His fist connected with the guy's jaw, knocking him off balance.

 

“Hey!” The bartender yelled, people gasped and stepped away, and security was already headed their way.

 

Stiles raised his arms in a “hands off” motion and took a few steps back. “It's okay,” he announced, then turned to look at Lydia. “I'm leaving.”

 

Lydia sat dumbfounded for a moment as security escorted him out.

 

Once outside, Stiles didn't know what to do. He realized his ID and credit card were still behind the bar, and he wasn't going to be allowed back in.

 

While he felt slightly better after punching the guy, he was still seething, and the more he thought about it, the madder he got.

 

“Stiles?” He realized he had been pacing and stopped suddenly when he heard Lydia's voice. She held out his ID and credit card. “I was about to follow you when the bartender called me back to close out the tab.”

 

“Thanks,” he replied as he released a breath and took the cards from her. “I'm sorry you had to see that I-”

 

“What did he do?” She seemed scared and upset, and something in her eyes told him it was because she already knew.

 

He shook his head softly. “Nothing,” he whispered. “I just-”

 

“Stiles,” she cut him off and grabbed one of his hands with both of hers. She bit her lip to stop it from trembling as her eyes became glassy. “Did he try to... was he going to...” She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence.

 

“I wasn't going to let anything happen to you,” he answered without actually answering. They stood for a few moments, staring at each other, until finally Stiles turned to walk away. Lydia stayed still, her hands still grasping his so tightly, that when their arms were both completely outstretched, she was the one that jerked him back toward her, and threw her arms around his neck as she reached up to kiss him.

 

His arms wrapped around her to hold her up off of the ground.

 

When Stiles eased her down after a few moments of intense kissing, he pulled away breathless. “Wait. What-What’s-what’s happening?”

 

“I...” Lydia didn’t know what to say. Her head was swimming and she was breathing heavily. “I wanted to say thank you.”

 

 “Oh... okay...” Stiles smirked. “You can continue if you want.”

 

Lydia smiled, relieved, before pulling him back to her lips once more. He picked her up and took a few steps to back her against the wall of the building.

 

 He removed his lips from hers and began to kiss her neck, and for the first time in a long time Lydia didn’t want it to stop.

  

She moved her hips against his in a effort to gain some friction she so desperately craved.

 

Stiles impulsively pushed his hips into hers and with a gasping breath Lydia urged, “Car... we... us... should...”

 

 Stiles pulled away from her trying to read her features. “Do you want to go home?”

 

 Lydia shook her head. “I can’t wait that long.”

 

“You...” Stiles was still trying to process what she was saying, and Lydia had already hopped down and was pulling him toward the car. She easily slipped through the space between vehicles, and he was narrowly avoiding (and sometime flat out running into) side mirrors. “Wait,” he said as she threw the door open, and he fell into the backseat. 

 

Lydia had just closed the door behind her when she froze, “What?”

 

“I’m sorry... I’m just... I’m confused.”

 

“Oh god... did I ... misread-“

 

“No! No, I... don’t get me wrong. I want to... I just... want to make sure that you want to. I mean... emotions ran high the last half hour, we've both had a drink or two, and I just...”

 

Lydia smiled. “You're a good guy, Stiles.”

 

He raised an eyebrow, “Uh...thank you?”

 

She let out a chuckle. “Last night, I said _thank you_.  Do you remember?”

 

Stiles nodded. “Yeah...”

 

“You said I deserve to be happy and I said _thank you._ ” Stiles nodded slowly as he tried to understand what she was saying. “But...what I wanted to say was...” she suddenly lost that courage that she had to speak. Instead, she rushed forward to meet his lips again. He responded automatically tangling his fingers in her hair as she repositioned herself so that she was straddling him. She finally pulled away from him, still breathing heavily. “ _You_ make me happy, Stiles... So yes...I want this... for the first time in a long time... I want this. Even if you hadn’t just acted as my knight in shining armor, the last couple of days have been..." She trailed off because she couldn't think of a word in the English dictionary to describe how she felt. "I want _this_ ,” she repeated. “I want...” she stopped to gather her courage, “Stiles, I want _you_.”

 

 He smiled and kissed her again, but stopped her when she reached for the button on his pants.

 

"Wait... I don't have anything..."

 

"Oh..." Lydia looked around as if a condom would appear out of nowhere, then got a thought. "Well...this is Malia's car, right?" Stiles nodded. Lydia reached over the front seat and opened the glove box, producing the foil wrapper.

 

Stiles raised his eyebrows, "Never thought I'd say this, but God bless Malia and Isaac's sex life."

 


End file.
